If you’re looking for a new job, your résumé is all-important: It might come down to an interview in the end, but your résumé will get you that interview, and it’s crucial in making sure you stand out (or not) in a crowd of applicants.
The good news is that there are plenty of apps, sites, and services out there to help you build your résumé, maximize how well it sells you, and get it in front of people who might employ you—and these are our favorites.
Enhancv
Enhancv is a high-level, professional résumé builder that produces top-quality documents that you’d be happy to share with anyone: Even if you have no graphic design experience, the template-based approach here makes it easy to produce a résumé that looks great.
You’ll need to provide the text, of course, but there are lots of neat ideas in these templates (like key achievements and ability sliders), plus a ton of customization options. You’ll need to pay to use Enhancv—from $10.99 a month—but the end results are worth the money.
Resume.com
The URL gives away what Resume.com does: It’s perhaps the best option out there for turning your disorganized notes into something professional in the shortest time possible, and with the minimum amount of effort on your part.
What’s more, it’s completely free. You start by picking one of the templates offered by the site—there are plenty available, enough to meet anyone’s needs—and after you’ve customized it using your own details, you can export it in a number of different formats.
Canva
Canva is well known as an intuitive, powerful suite of graphic tools that anyone can get to grips with—and building résumés is one more task that Canva can tackle with ease. As with every other part of the service, everything is straightforward to use and customize as you make progress.
You start by choosing a template, and then you fill in the gaps as prompted. A host of different options are available, and everything from the color scheme to the fonts can be tweaked. You can use Canva for free, with extra features available for $12.99 a month.
CV Engineer
If you want to put together your résumé on your phone, then CV Engineer is an excellent choice that’s optimized for mobile. It’s been put together with the help of a former executive recruiter, so the app knows what’s needed in terms of layout and approach.
As you would expect from a mobile experience, everything is well laid out and easy to navigate: With a few taps you can have a solid-looking résumé designed in just a few minutes, and the app also offers advice on the best ways of writing out each section.
MyPerfectCV
MyPerfectCV splits the résumé-making process into three clear steps: choosing a template, filling it out with content, and then downloading or printing it. The service couldn’t be simpler to use, and in addition to being free, it also offers plenty of helpful advice to make sure your résumé looks good.
The résumé that you create can be tailored to suit the industry that you’re looking to get a job in, and all you really need to do is enter your own personal details and information where prompted—with examples and guides available to refer to at each step of the way.
Carrd
If you want to take a more bespoke approach to résumé building, then give Carrd a look: It’s first and foremost a tool for making single-page landing websites, but you can adapt it to show off your skills, create a portfolio of your work, and help people find you online.
You don’t need to have any coding experience to make use of Carrd, and the simple drag-and-drop interface is a pleasure to use—as are the polished templates. You can get started for free, but the best features (like multiple sites) will set you back $19 a year.